Book: Che’s Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image
Communists, capitalists still buy into iconic Che photo, author says
It is the most popular photograph in history: Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara stares pensively at the horizon, his steely eyes shielded behind a thick beard and his trademark beret. The shot — taken by Cuban photographer Alberto Korda in Havana on March 5, 1960 — turned the charismatic and controversial leader into a cultural icon.
Now, nearly a half-century later, the photograph is used by communists and capitalists, Marxists and marketers to sell ideas. In his new book, “Che’s Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image” (Vintage Books), journalist Michael Casey examines how this photograph came to take on a life of its own and become the most reproduced photograph in the world.
maybe it’s because “Che” goes with everything.
the Che image looks good with everything: it’s powerful, hopeful; it means your band really rocks when you put on the poster. the image doesn’t represent revolution or communism any more; it just means it looked cool on a t-shirt.
even President Obama looks good in it.
(don’t get your panties in a bunch… just showing that the image works)
“I’m not really here.”
not exactly
Sorry, dude. But the President is way cooler than Che.